A Distinguished Guest by Sue Miller

Lily Maynard becomes a famous author at age seventy with a published memoir called the The Integrationist.  It is the story of her life as a minister's wife in the 1950's in an integrated congregation in a northern city.   When she disagrees with her husband on the roles they should play in the civil rights movement, her marriage fails and even her relationship with her children chills.  Now she has Parkinson's disease and must live with her youngest son Alan.  Her memory of the life they shared is very different from Alan's and this difference has always been a wall between them.   Now they must explore the decisions both have made, the life they have chosen and their relationships with each other.  I couldn't like Lily but I am not sure I can say why.  There are many things to ponder about race and the 50's especially for those of us who have our own memories of that time.